WE ARE A GROWING POWER REGIONAL TRAINING CENTER
WE ARE CREATING A RESOURCE RICH SAFE SPACE FOR YOUTH EMPOWERMENT AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.
WE ENVISION A COMMUNITY OF ACTION WHERE EMPOWERED YOUTH ENGAGE IN REFLECTIVE PRACTICE WITH OTHERS TO ACTUALIZE EFFECTIVE, REPLICABLE AND SCALABLE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE BASED LOCAL SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL CHALLENGES.

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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Giving Tuesday -- A call for support

To our friends and supporters,

Our School at Blair Grocery just celebrated our five year anniversary over this last Thanksgiving week. Through these five years we have had our ups and downs trying to work with kids here in the Lower 9th Ward and youth from across the country to rebuild our community, empowering youth to change their community by giving them the skills and experience to grow their own food and we provide an education on sustainability in a way they probably wouldn't get anywhere else. As we end this Thanksgiving holiday we are reminded of the 'ups' we've been grateful for over the years: the awesome moments when a kid "gets it", neighbors lending a hand when we're in need, neighborhood folks who start their own gardens for themselves, and the volunteers who have come from all over the US to help and learn.

Unfortunately this past August we had a really big 'down'. We were told that we could no longer use the facility where our service learners sleep, our staff live, and where we hold classes until we renovate it to comply with new city ordinances. Over the past few months we've had support from a local architecture firm who has helped us navigate the city and state's new zoning rules and are finally at a point where the bids for the renovation and re-zoning are in and we're ready to move forward.

The upstairs residential renovation will cost $30,000. Downstairs commercial renovation will cost $50,000. A new roof will be $6,000 and thanks to the states new enforcement of retrofitting fire sprinkler systems we're looking at another 5,000-10,000. Plus the fees.

So to keep it fairly short, we're asking for your help. Our Farm Manager, Rob, did a test a while back to see how hard or easy it would be to get 10 Facebook friends to donate $10 each. Without asking anyone personally to donate -- just a few simple posts -- he managed to reach his $100 mark in just 3 days.

Over the years hundreds, if not over 1000, youth through NY2NO, InterVarsity, Hillel, Tulane University, and many other institutions have helped us out on the farm. If 500 of those we're to hit the social media world, their parents, relatives, and friends and each try to get 10 people to donate at least $10, we would be halfway to our goal of $100,000.

Our website, www.ourschoolatblairgrocery.org, is equipped to take donations through PayPal and by the end of the week we'll be launching an Indiegogo campaign. So there are two ways that donations can be made online. We also can accept personal checks made out to Our School at Blair Grocery.

All donations are tax deductible. And all donations are deeply appreciated. One more thing to add is that to make a donation via PayPal you do NOT have to have a PayPal account. If you have any questions, clarifications, or comments please do not hesitate to write or call us anytime, contact information can be found below.

It would mean a lot to us if you could reach out to 10 people to get us back in our home base and continue doing this very important work.

Thank you so much for your continued support in building sustainable models of justice in the Lower Ninth Ward and across the globe.